That Was Then
by princesspoopypants
Summary: When Kat and Rocky get engaged, Adam, the loyal best man, is in charge of handing out invitations-including one to Tommy Oliver in Reefside. However, years away from each other has allowed Adam to adjust and be comfortable with his sexuality. When they get together, it's high school all over again: Tommy loves all of his friends no matter what-and Adam loves Tommy. Adam x Tommy.


**Chapter I: **Weightless

"_How do you feel?" _

_He inhaled deeply as though there were a scent to it—a scent to the Power, as though he'd be able to fill his lungs with it and then a moment later exhale, so once more it coated his body like a heavy blanket. Faintly, red worked its way across the bridge of his nose onto the tips of his ears, and Adam smiled softly back to his new leader from across the table. _

"_Like I'm wearing the uniform even though I know I'm not," he admitted. Eyes darting around the youth center, he bit back the temptation to say any more. At any moment, he expected for Zedd's putties to pop up and wreak havoc. _

_In response to his silence, Tommy stared at him oddly. Goosebumps arose on the smaller teen's skin like a domino effect and he couldn't help but avert his eyes as though he'd done something wrong. _

_But to his surprise and unlike outside his group of friends (Adam mentally slapped himself—Tommy, Billy, and Kimberly were part of his group of friends now), his new leader broke into a warm smile. "You get used to it." He lowered his voice. "Morphing and stuff—you, Rocky, and Aisha are new, but it's not hard. It's worth it." _

_I bet, Adam thought to himself. He couldn't stop himself before he blabbered, "I just feel the urge to morph every chance I get. Heck, I had to stop myself from calling out, 'Mastodon,' when I heard a little girl scream because some boy knocked ice cream out of her hand." _

_Another grin split across Tommy's face and he snickered. "Did you help her?" _

"_I think her brother peed his pants when I whipped it out," Adam muttered. He felt his cheeks turn pink and stopped, ears burning once more. Tommy wasn't just snickering now—he was just plain laughing. And Adam, he wobbled with a smile before offering a soft laugh of his own. _

_When it finally settled down, Tommy was grinning mischievously to him. _

"_This is nice," the White Ranger declared. "The guys should be late more often." _

"_Yeah," Adam agreed thoughtfully. "They should." _

_And for the rest of the afternoon, Adam couldn't help the smile that stretched across his lips every time Tommy glanced his way. _

**xxx **

"You think it was a bad idea? Letting Tori give Dustin my number?" Kira crinkled her nose, looking across the car to the driver's seat. In her lap was a phone, and since their separation from the Overdrive Rangers and other veteran rangers, it had eagerly been beeping nonstop.

Fortunately Adam was a patient person and only split into a grin. He noted the incoming sign—_Reefside, 15 miles_—then shook his head. "Tori was nice enough. Dustin's the…?"

"Yellow Wind Ranger. He had control over earth and works with Tori at the Wind Ninja Academy or whatever." Making ticks with her hands, she began rattling off details. "His birthday's October 5th, his favorite superhero is the third Flash because his only weakness is _food_, he loves Motocross, and only changes his underwear twice a month."

He made a face. "Why would you tell a girl that?" Of all the people Adam ever had a relationship with, underwear was _never_ an opening line he shared.

"Apparently Tori's encouraging him to be himself." She sighed and placed the phone beside her.

"If you think he's that…_irritating_, why didn't you tell Tori that you weren't, um, interested?" Looking from the corner of his eye, he watched the Yellow Dino Ranger make a face, then couldn't help but smile.

The corner of her lip curled and she shrugged gently. "It's endearing. Like…having my own little fanboy or something."

To that, the elder ranger could only laugh and they spent the next few minutes in silence, Kira occasionally humming and singing to the radio. He didn't mind, seeing as it calmed her. Watching the way she operated the past few days had been interesting. He could hardly believe that of all people, _Tommy_ had been the one who trained her.

He'd been marveling over that fact ever since meeting her. How long had it been since Adam had seen his old friend? _Seven years. Six months. Three weeks, two days. _

Not…that he was obsessive, or anything. He kept tabs on the other old rangers, too.

"Hey, Mister Park?"

_Ooh._ Adam cringed, and as they pulled onto city streets into a red stoplight, he turned his head as he noticed Kira was staring at him. "Call me Adam. It's…oh, god. _Please_, call me Adam."

It was only two seconds ago that he was contemplating Tommy being a freaking doctor. A paleontologist of all things, which was a slap in the fact and a kick in the gut telling him their time had passed. Sitting next to him, he realized, was a girl nearly seven years his junior.

Kira, amused, only scrunched her face. "Adam. I guess I could call you that."

"What's wrong with being called Adam?"

"Just the fact that you're the same age as Dr. O. I haven't been in school with the guy for at least three years, but still. Not calling Dr. O, 'Dr. O,' is just really weird." The Yellow Dino Ranger made another face, clearly mused and eerily in the same sense as Bridge as she rationalized, "I can't call you Dr. Park since you're not really a doctor."

"Trust me. Adam'll stick." He smiled genuinely to her. "What is it that you wanted to ask?"

"Oh. You can drop me off at Cyberspace." she asked. "I'm supposed to be in New York for a few more days, but I doubt my agent's noticed. I'm willing to bet that she's in the middle of scheduling me ten years in advance—and _still_ wouldn't notice."

The life of a star. He chuckled under his breath. "You'll have to give me directions."

"Sure. Have you never visited Dr. Oliver in Reefside?" She cocked her head to the side, muttering for him to change lanes. "Conner, Trent, Ethan and I try to keep in touch as much as possible. I get a surprise visit from them every couple months and they bum out in my condo. Last Christmas, we all stressed Dr. Oliver out at his house while he was trying to grade finals."

To that, the elder ranger couldn't help but laughed. He tossed his head back and chuckled once more before shrugging. "Who knows. Sometimes it's a lot easier to keep in touch with some rangers than it is others. Rocky, who was the second Red Ranger and Blue Zeo Ranger, was a roommate of mine throughout all of college. He's getting married to another friend of ours—Kat, in a couple months." He hummed. "Which means I should give Tommy the invite before I drop you off."

"You really think he's going to let you drop me off and then leave?" she arched an eyebrow, unconvinced.

"Angel Grove is only an hour away," Adam pointed out. He grimaced, remembering there were other things that happened outside of being a ranger again. Some people liked to call it _life. _"I'll need to look for a new roommate, otherwise move out and find a cheaper apartment. The dojo's good and all, but so many are opening up around it that people aren't coming by anymore for lessons. I won't be able to pay rent next month if I don't get back soon."

Kira hummed, as though she was going to say something interesting, but instead didn't. She leaned forward over the seat and pointed to an empty street. "Take a left here."

"Alright." Though now that his mind was on it, Adam held himself from frowning. The past few days being able to fight again with the other rangers had been exhilarating. He wasn't as young as they were now—no, unfortunately far from it. But ever since driving away from the mansion, he could feel the Power bubbling inside of him, just as it originally did. A pressure, where if he breathed in too deeply, all of it would fill his lungs before surrounding him again like a security blanket.

He remembered trying to retain that feeling when he helped out his successor, Carlos. Transforming had its familiar rush of adrenaline and his heart sang, but there was an emptiness there—how he didn't feel complete. And proven, it nearly cost Adam his life.

But now, he chuckled to himself quietly, he had his powers again. Yet had _no clue_ what to do with them, given that Angel Grove was peaceful.

And then there was Tommy. Tommy, _Tommy, Tommy._ One of his oldest friends still clutched to the Power and duties with unbelievable devotion. He hadn't seen for him for _years_, but all the stories Kira told in confidence (after shockingly recognizing him from what was apparently an updated video journal) told Adam Tommy hadn't missed a beat.

He couldn't help the way his heart sang, thinking of Tommy again. Especially in _that_ way.

"You said that one of the other rangers was getting married in a few months, right?"

Oh, right. _Those_ feelings couldn't resurface in _that_ way when _that_ person's ex-student was still in the car with him. After all these years, Adam still couldn't control the way pink powdered his cheeks as he looked to the younger ranger. They pulled into the parking lot and Adam nodded. "Yeah. Kat and Rocky. You could probably get a singing gig with them; they're two of the nicest people you'd ever meet."

"Cool," she smiled. Immediately the smile disappeared into curiosity. "So then, did Doctor Oliver ever have…anyone he was serious with? You know, throughout high school and stuff? The guys and I have wanted to ask, but he's kind of a work-a-holic."

That was Tommy for you. Adam shrugged, pulling the keys out of the ignition. He felt a sour taste in his mouth, then pushed aside his anxiety. "Kat and Tommy were pretty close. They went on a couple of dates after high school, but he didn't want to do the long-distance thing. Kat took the place of his first girlfriend, Kimberly, who was the pink ranger."

"So he had a thing for pink rangers then?"

_He had a thing for __**girls, **_he mused.

"We made fun of him for that." Grinning, Adam nodded in confirmation. Their conversation came to a halt when the loud cry of '_KIRA!' _

He needn't guess who had called out her name. From his rearview mirror the adult could see three boys rushing up to the car just as Kira nearly ripped the doors out of his precious black Acura. He felt a smile work its way across his face, watching her fling arms around all three boys' necks. Every one of them grinned wildly, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who was who. Conner McKnight, Kira explained, was the red ranger. Ethan James was the blue ranger. And Trent Fernandez, who she evidently had a 'complicated' relationship with, was the white ranger.

Red, white, and blue. Easy spotting. And then he laughed.

He watched as Kira gestured to the dinomorpher and smiled when Conner, the man in the red t-shirt showed a look of disbelief. Kira looked satisfied with herself before giving another hug. They began gesturing toward the café, neon lights blinking, _Cyberspace._ Adam took it as his cue to put his key back into the ignition and leave—

Until he saw Kira's eyes suddenly dart back to his car from the mirror. Adam perked, and watched as brown eyes looked to and from the café. He pulled down the window as Kira walked by to his side, dragging all three of her lackies with her.

"Something wrong?" he asked with concern. It wasn't ethical to leave without a formal goodbye, but he doubted his presence was needed.

"Nothing. Doctor Oliver and Hayley are waiting inside, though. They're expecting you." She looked at him oddly, like he was crazy for leaving. "You should come!"

"I don't really…"

"No way, dude!" Ethan, the one in the blue hat and blue shirt and…blue _everything_ split into an enthusiastic grin. "Kira's been telling us that you were the Black Ranger. _The_ Black Ranger. You should have seen it—once Dr. O realized he hadn't been chosen for the big mission thingie, he flipped out _big._"

'Big Mission Thingie.' The eldest ranger couldn't help the small smile that formed across his face. Sighing with defeat, Adam pulled his keys out of the ignition, made sure he had his things, then pulled out of his car. Not to his surprise, he was the shortest out of the four, save Kira, who was only a few inches shorter than he himself.

"Aw, he's like, a mini-Ranger," Conner grinned. "Or something."

Kira promptly elbowed him in the stomach.

"Ow!"

Biting on a chuckle, Adam nodded politely as Kira gestured to each one of her friends. "Mis…Adam, this is Conner, Trent, and Ethan. Guys, this is Adam. He was the second Black Ranger and one of Dr. O's good friends. Right?"

"Yup." Smiling quietly, he held out a hand. Trent, who Adam realized was the most civil of the bunch, shook it politely. "Kira's told me good things about you three." _And then some._ "Should we go inside?"

Adam had never been the tallest of the bunch. He had students back at his dojo that towered over him a little like Conner did. It was strange, watching the four kids who were fresh from their years out of high school staring at him with such fascination—more so than the kids back at the dojo. He felt himself growing self-conscious, especially after reminding himself that these kids were _Tommy's_ students.

"Totally," Ethan announced. He planted himself on one side of the eldest Ranger with Kira on the other, and Conner and Trent trailed from behind. "You've got to tell us some embarrassing stories about Dr. Oliver. He'll _never_ live it down."

"I don't think he'd appreciate it if I did that." Adam smiled. It was weird watching kids look to him like he had all the answers in the world—but not unpleasant. Just really, _really _weird.

"But _we_ would." Conner split into a grin.

Another chortle managed out of Adam's throat. He remembered back in the day (and he grimaced—_'Back in the Day'? __**Really**__?)_, that Rocky would be reacting the same way. It was obvious there were differences between the pair, but they acted like eager puppies. He wondered how many times Tommy had to break from a lesson because he was too busy cracking up.

When they finally entered the café, he already knew his heart was skipping a beat and thrumming against his chest. Chocolate brown eyes sought out his best friend like a victim trapped in a wildfire, and he breathed to slow down his pulse. Kira glanced his way maybe once, but he didn't make much of it.

"Kira!"

Turning his head, Adam watched as Kira let out another laugh, similar to when she was reunited with her teammates. Following her trail, he froze at the sight of his old friend.

And couldn't help but split into a smile.

To say Tommy Oliver hadn't changed over the years would have been ridiculous. He'd filled out since the last time the pair had seen one another and evidently went through another growth spurt. Adam tilted his head slightly to get a better look at his old leader's face and wasn't disappointed.

His heart accursedly skipped a beat after the old White Ranger released his ex-student from a hug and turned to meet Adam's gaze.

Tommy split into a grin of his own. The next thing the old Black Ranger knew, his old teammate, old leader, and dear friend latched onto him like a lichen. A chuckle escaped his lips, loud and resonating in the smaller man's ear.

"Well, if it isn't the infamous _Adam Park._"

It'd been _ages_ since he'd heard that voice. Laughing softly under his breath, Adam pulled away and couldn't help the grin across his face. Now much closer, both men inspected the other.

"You cut your hair," his old friend noted.

"You cut yours. I think that's more phenomenal." Arching an eyebrow, the old Black Ranger looked to his once-leader and gestured to the lack of brown locks. He kind of missed them. A moment he realized that he hadn't gotten a response, and while he was still finishing his scrutiny, Tommy was still looking over _him. _Red made it to his ears.

His heart skipped a beat when that old, happy-go-lucky Oliver grin spread across the Dino Rangers' oldest member's face.

"Hi," Tommy muttered warmly.

Adam laughed. "Hey."


End file.
